Helping Musicians Fulfil Their Potential

Show 10 March 2013

Winter returns but the music hots up

This week we’re doing something slightly different, we are not only listing all the tracks played on this week’s show, we are also posting them in full for your listening pleasure, including my introduction of each of the songs. Enjoy!

Playlist

After the success of their debut single ‘Happy’, they will be releasing Just Be on 13th May. ‘The song is about the pressures that many people feel about how they ‘should’ look, that predominantly come from the media’s influence,’ says Sera, one of the joint vocalists in Unsung Lilly. ‘Its something we all feel really strongly about and have always wanted to write about because we want to inspire people to try to accept themselves as they are. Its such an important subject that dominates many peoples lives, and the song is about overcoming that.’

‘We’re really excited to be releasing another single so quickly’, says Frankie. ‘The feedback from our first single ‘Happy’ was fantastic and it got airplay all over the world, so we’re keen to see what we can do with this one, whilst spreading such a great message at the same time!’

The band have just released one of their individual and home-made iPhone videos of the song onto youtube (filmed by sticking their iPhones to guitars and mic stands) and an official video will be released mid-April.

Taken from her forthcoming album Quenching The Kill, which was due for release last year but due to prolongued ilness has had to be postponed, this track is a very refreshing but simple fusion of delicious harmonies with clever percussion adorned with some very infectious choruses which will echo inside your craneum cavity for some considerable time after the song has ended. The whole album is in fact a collection of songs blending complex arrangements with Roxy’s supreme and versatile vocals. We are sending Roxy our wishes for a speedy recovery and looking forward to welcoming her to our studios for a very special Under The Radar Live Session. Watch this space!

Yessy Rivera is originally from the Canaries but based in Murcia in the south east of Spain. This song forms part of a 7 track demo album which Yessy has not released yet, but she very kindly sent me four of the tracks. This track immediately caught my attention because of the Tango element which in my mind, takes this song to a whole new level; in fact, I often remark to musicians how important it is to be open-minded about introducing elements such as Tango into their music, and I don’t just mean allowing Tango to take over a song, but rather use subtleties from the very unique and enigmatic stylings of this magnificent genre and of course other genres and the instruments that characterise these.

Zemmy is a supreme songstress based in London but originally from Nigeria. Brittle Little Pieces can be described as angelic, ethereal, soothing, haunting and utterly sublime. It is one of those very special songs that will transport you to paradise in a heartbeat if you dare close your eyes while it plays. A prolific song writer, her style is heavily influenced by Sia, Dido, Lauryn Hill, Sade, Imogen Heap, and her voice and musicianship easily earn her a place amongst these great ladies of song. I have absolutely no doubt we will hear a lot more about Zemmy on Under The Radar Live Sessions.

The Frisbys are a four-piece band led by twin sisters Nicola and Helen Frisbee with Marc Robinson and Sam Keer on guitar. This song is taken from their self-produced and self-released forthcoming debut four-track EP Philosolove which will be released on 25th March. The song title is a neologism or singlet which is a made up word from the sentence “Feel Loss of Love”. This is a magnificent song with exquisite harmonies from the twins, masterful guitar work and haunting flute. The Frisbys met at university and have been together as a band since 2011 with a string of gigs around London and the south east of England, and this has steadily gained them new fans. If you missed their performance on Under The Radar Live Sessions you will find a full review plus HD videos and audio by following this link.

London based four-piece band describing their style as Zimbabwean Soul interwoven with afro beats and a generous dose of funk, led by the charismatic and eloquent Soneni Nkomo whose vocal finesse can easily be compared to some of the World’s all-time great ladies of soul, gospel and jazz. Million Miles Away, like many of the greatest songs ever composed was born “by accident” and almost wrote itself like Soneni and Elmo describe during the introduction of the song in the sound file above.